B.C. district aims to reduce recyclables in landfills with bylaw banning cardboard in dumps

The Thompson-Nicola Regional District is banning cardboard at all of its landfills as a means to reduce the amount of recyclable materials that are being thrown in the dump.

"What it'll mean for the average person is probably very little," TNRD's environmental health manager Jamie Vieira said on the CBC's Daybreak Kamloops.

"But we still see some loads going to the landfills ... that still have high percentages of easily recyclable cardboard that whoever is generating is choosing not to recycle."

Effective January 2022, Vieira said fines may be issued to haulers based on the size of their load.

"The fine amount is 50 per cent of the disposal fees for the violating load," she said in a written release on Monday.

"For example, if a load costs $80 in disposal fees, the fine would be additional $40."

Enforcement will only take place at landfills and transfer stations and fines will only be issued by designated inspectors.

"We're starting with the easiest thing to recycle and then we'll revisit other materials that we might add to the banned material list to keep recyclables out of the landfill," Vieira said.